Handled carton for bakery products and the like



Jan. 26, 1954 R. M REARY 2,667,297

HANDLED CARTON FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS AND THE LIKE Filed April 3, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. RONALD MC REARY -BY Wild/61k.

ATTORNEY Jan. 26, 1954 MoR 2,667,297

HANDLED CARTON FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS AND THE LIKE Filed April 3, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

RONALD MC- REARY BY ATTO R N E Y Patented Jan. 26, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HANDLED CARTON FOR BAKERY PRODUCTS AND THE LIKE Ronald. McReary, Corvallis, Oreg.

Application April 3, 1950, Serial No. 153,553

2 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to boxes or car.- tons made from paper board or similar material and cartons of the knock-down type and also cartons in which the cover and bottom sections can be locked together when the carton is closed.

More specifically, this invention relates to cartons adapted for use in the carrying of such articles as cakes, pies or other products which require to be carried in a fairly horizontal position, and which also require a; carton considerable' bottom surface area compared to' its height.

Due to the fact that such cartons must provide relatively large lateral surface area to accommodate such bakery products as cakes and pies, and also due to the fact that, since bakeries supply cartons without charge to their customers, it is desirable from the standpoint of economy to have such cartonsmade of light-weight paper board, the cartons which have heretofore been customarily used for this purpose require to be tied by string or tape and to be carried by'the string or tape. To the best of my knowledge any cartons of a size and shape suitable for carrying cakes, for. example, which have means for interlocking the cover and bottom sections and which are. provided with, or are capable of being provided with, a carrying handle" attached. to the: carton, have heretofore been made of heavier and more costly material and thus are only exceptionally used in the. bakery trade.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved carton, designed particularly for such articles as those above mentioned, which can be made from the same light-weight cheap material as ordinary cartons now in general. use by bakeries, but which can be used without any string,.tape or other additional or external means for holding the carton closed and for the carrying of the carton.

A related object of this invention is to provide an improved carton of light-weight material and of the type above indicated, which will have a carrying handle attached to the cover section and which, with its contents, can be safely carried by the handle without any danger of the carton collapsing under the imposed strain.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bakery carton of light-weight material which will not only have a cover section with an attached carrying handle, but which will also have integral means enabling the cover and bottom sections to be strongly interlocked. when the carton is closed.

A further object of the invention is to provide 2. a handled carton for bakery products and the like which can be used and reused a number of times and thus will have the feature of being of additional practical utility to the customers.

These objects I am able to attain in my improved carton by so arranging and securing the handle and interlocking means that the locked carton will be able to withstand a relatively heavy carrying strain, as will be explained in the course of the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

in the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a carton embodying one form of my invention, the carton being shown with the cover section partly open;

Fig; 2 is a front elevation of the same carton showing the cover section in closed and locked position;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan section taken on line 3-3 of- Fig. 2 but drawn to a slightly larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a corresponding fragmentary vertical section on the line 44 of Fig. 2';

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of another carton illustrating a further modified form in which my invention can be carriedout, the carton being shown with. the cover section. partly open;

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the carton of Fig. 5 showing the cover section in closed and locked position;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a carton similar to the carton. in Fig. 5 but with a slight modification. in the interlocking. means; and

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of. the carton of Fig. 7 with the cover section in closed and locked position.

In Figs. 1,v 2', 3 andthe carton, which: is formed from a single pro-cut and pro-folded blank, has a bottom section comprising the mainbottom wall iii, a, pair of opposite side walls I I and i2, a front wall l3, and. a back. wall it which is common to bottom and cover sections and which serves as the hinge connectionbetween the-sections.- The cover section. includes the main top wall 15,- a pair of opposite side walls only one of which, I 6, is shown in Fig. 1, anda front wall ll. In the bottom section each ot the two side walls H and l2-is connected tothe front wall it in any conventional or other satisfactory manner, such as by a-fiap l-tat the end. of one wall inserted in a slit IQ of the adjacent wall.. In the cover section the side walls are connected: to the front: wall ll respectively in the same: manner. In the: carton of Fig. 1. the side and front walls. of the cover section are adapted to: be positioned outside of the come positioned that when the cover section is closed,

the tongues and 2| of the cover section can be inserted in the slits, as illustrated in Fig. 2, thus locking the front wall ll of the cover section to the front wall |3 of the bottom section.

The two slits 22 and 23 (Fig. 1) are connected at their center points by a horizontal cut 24, thus producing a pair of hinged portions and 26 which can be pushed inwardly by engagement with the tongues 20 and 2| when the latter are inserted into locking position in the front wall ,|3 of the bottom section. The positions of the tongues 20 and 2| and the hinged portions 25 and 26, as a result of this interlocking of the front walls of the two sections, are shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 4.

With this construction the two hinged portions 25 and 26, formed by the horizontal cut 24, not only facilitate the insertion of the tongues 20 and 2| through the front wall l3 but also act in such manner that an attempt to pull the front wall ll of the cover section outwardly or forwardly from the front wall l3 of the bottom section, when the carton is locked, will be resisted by a wedging action on the part of the two hinged portions 25 and 26 acting against the inserted tongues 20 and 2|. There is a particular advantage in this which will be mentioned presently.

A handle 21, formed of paper tape of a plurality of layers, or of any other suitable material, has its ends secured centrally on the outside face of the rear wall l4 and the front wall I! (Fig. 1) respectively. The handle may be secured to the carton in any suitable manner, for i example, by means of adhesive or by means of staples. In the case of the carton illustrated in Fig. 1, the handle is secured'by adhesive. Not only are the ends of the handle secured to the walls I4 and ll of the carton but the adjacent I sections of the handle are also preferably. secured to the top face of the top wall l5 of the carton at the front and rear edges, and thus in the places indicated at 28 and 28' in Figs. "1 and 4.

As apparent from Figs. 1 and 2, the front end portion of the handle 21 is secured to the front wall ll of the cover section between the two tongues 20 and 2|. When the carton is locked,

the strain on the front wall of the cover section produced by a pull on the handle will be transmitted through the locked tongues to the front Wall |3 of the bottom section even if the carton is made of comparatively thin paper board. The close proximity of the two locked tongues to the end of the handle will enable the strain to be distributed evenly and safely over the two locked front walls, and any tendency of the strain to cause the front wall I! to pull outwardly away from the underlying front wall l3 will be resisted by the interlocking means and partly by the wedging action of the portions25 and 26 against the tongues 20 and 2| resisting the pulling of the tongues from the slits 22 and 23.

The lifting of the locked carton by the handle ordinarily would not only have a tendency to pull the bottom edge .of the front wall l1 outwardly from the underlying wall [3, but also would have a tendency to pull the upper edge of the wall H and the upper edge of the rear wall l4 inwardly. However, I have found that this latter tendency is considerably reduced by continuing the adhesive bond between the handle and the cover section of the carton for a slight distance on the top face I5 (thus as at 28 and 2B), which by causing an upward pull at the areas 28 and 28 reduces the inward pull at the edges of the top section of the carton. All these factors contribute to enable the carton to withstand a comparatively severe carrying strain even though relatively light-weight material is used for the carton, and thus contribute in accomplishing the main purpose of my invenion.

In the carton of Figs. 5 and 6 the locking tongues are in the front wall 46 of the bottom section and the slits for the tongues are in the front wall 4| of the cover section. The two locking tongues 42 and 43 are formed at opposite sides of a central flap 44 in the wall and the front wall 4| of the cover section comes down between the flap 44 and the wall 40 when the carton is closed. In this construction a pair of slits 45 and 46 for the tongues 42 and 43, respectively, are formed in the front wall 4| of the cover section. In Fig. 5 these slits 45 and 46 are shown connected by a horizontal out Which thus forms two hinged portions 4'! and 48, similar to the portions 25' and 26 in Fig. 1. The front end of the handle 49 extends down over the upper hinged portion 47 as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 6 shows this carton locked with the tongues.

on both sides of the flap 44 having been inserted in their respective slits 45 and. 46. Any tendency for the lower edge of the front wall 4| of the cover section to be pulled outwardly away from the underlying Wall 40 of the bottom section will of course be prevented by the overlapping locked flap 44. Furthermore, a pull on the front end 49 of the handle, which would have a tendency to pull the upper hinged portion 47 (Fig. 5) outwardly, will result only in producing a tighter wedging action of the hinged portion 41 against the inserted tongues 42 and 43.

The carton of Figs. '7 and 8 is very similar to the carton of Figs. 5 and 6. A flap 56 is formed in the front wall of the bottom section which has the two tongues 5| and 52 at opposite sides.

The two slits 53 and 54 in the front wall 56 of the cover section are, however, formed slightly differently and are not connected with each other. When this carton is closed, as illustrated in Fig. 8, the carton looks very much like the carton of Fig. 6.

I claim:

1. In a handled carton of the character described having a bottom section with front and side walls and a hinged cover section with front and sidewalls extending over said walls of said bottom section respectively, an upwardly-extending flap centrally located on said front wall of said bottom section, the top portion of said flap broadened to form a pair of tongues extending laterally from opposite side edges of said flap, a

pair of locking slits for said tongues on said front wall of said cover section,'and a strap-like handle on said cover section extending from said front wall of said cover section to the rear of said cover section, the front end of said handle centrally secured on said cover section front wall between said slits, said slits spaced apart a distance only slightly greater than the width of saidv secured front end of said handle, said flap, said tongues and said slits so constructed and arranged that the upward pull on the forward end of said handle, when said carton is carried by said handle, will be transferred directly to said iiap without excessive strain on said cover front wall.

2. A handled carton of the character described having a bottom section with front and side walls and a hinged cover section with front and side walls extending over said walls of said bottom section respectively, said carton including an upwardly-extending flap centrally located on said front wall of said bottom section, the top portion of said flap broadened to form a pair of tongues extending laterally from opposite side edges of said flap, a pair of locking slits for said tongues on said front wall of said cover section, a horizontal cut connecting said slits approximately at their central portions, and a strap-like handle on said cover section extending from said 20 front wall of said cover section to the rear of 6 said cover section, the front end of said handle centrally secured on said cover section front wall between said slits and terminating at said horizontal out, said slits spaced apart a distance only slightly greater than the Width of said secured front end of said handle.

RONALD MCREARY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 665,556 Webb Jan. 8, 1901 676,015 Webb June 11, 1901 1,524,399 Krueger Jan. 27, 1925 2,507,978 Jubin May 16, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date a 259,279 Great Britain Mar. 18, 1926 752,811 France Sept. 30, 1933 

